Word Up

Book lovers rejoice: There are many pages to turn this spring.

This is just the start

With the Tucson Festival of Books just weeks away, it's time to take a look at the many author-oriented events coming to Tucson this spring. If you love books, you're living in the right town.

Antigone Books

411 N. Fourth Ave.

Desert Harvesters. The contributors who brought us Eat Mesquite and More: A Cookbook for Sonoran Desert Foods and Living, are coming to Antigone to talk shop (talk kitchen?) and to let you sample some recipes. Who would want to miss Ofelia Zepeda, Barbara Rose, Jill Lorenzini and Kimi Eisele all being together in one place? 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16.

Victor Lodato. Celebrate the release of this award-winning author's coming-of-age novel, Edgar and Lucy, at this event. Follow 8-year-old Edgar, who, after losing his father in a tragic accident, sets out to find the truth behind what happened, despite his mother's wishes. Pick up a copy and meet the author yourself. 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23.

Michael Tisserand. The award-winning author's latest book, Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White, won the 2017 Eisner Award for best comics-related book and was a finalist for both the National Books Critics Circle Awards for Biography and the PEN America/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography. Don't miss a chance to learn more about the comic book artist behind the groundbreaking comic strip "Krazy Kat." 7 p.m. Friday, March 30.

Tucson J.

3800 E. River Road.

Local author Jillian Cantor will be at the Tucson Festival of Books, but she'll be celebrating the paperback launch–and talking about the process behind–her book The Lost Letter at the Tucson J. The story follows the path of a love letter that connects generations worth of Jewish families, including a stamp engraver's apprentice and a journalist facing her father's dementia. 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 12.

UA Poetry Center

1508 E. Helen St.

Alec Finlay. The author of more than 40 published books, including Minnmouth, A Variety of Cultures and A Better Tale to Tell, will be doing a reading in conjunction with an exhibit of his work, which is on display Monday, Feb. 26 through Saturday, April 21. On Thursday, March 1, he'll be doing a reading at 7 p.m. in the Dorothy Rubel room.

Stephanie Burt. Burt is the author of four poetry collections, as well as several critical collections, including National Book Critics Circle award finalist Close Calls with Nonsense. This reading/talk session will center around the 2018 Poetry Coalition theme of "the body," which is perfect, considering Burt's work The Forms of Youth examines the way "adolescence" first started to be considered a separate phase of life in the early 1900s, and the ways that affected the era's poetry. 7 p.m. Thursday, March 15.

Ada Limón. One of Limón's four books of poetry, Bright Dead Things, was a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award for Poetry, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award. The New York Times called it one of the top 10 poetry books of the year. Hear her read some of her poems and take advantage of the Q&A session to follow. 7 p.m. Thursday, April 5.

UA Prose Series. Who better to celebrate at a UA writing event than some of the school's own recent MFA graduates. Francisco Cantú, Thomas Mira y Lopez and Sylvia Chan all had their first books published within the last few years—Cantú's The Line Becomes a River, Mira y Lopez's The Book of Resting Places and Chan's We Remain Traditional—and this is your chance to hear them reading pieces of their works. 7 p.m. Thursday, April 19.

Pima County Public Library Local Author Series

Joyner-Green Valley Library,

601 N. La Cañada Drive.

Judy Meagher. When her husband Mike was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at age 65, Meager was heartbroken. But the two decided to face their "new future" with determination, knowledge and a shared sense of humor. Now, she's written Running Bear Loved Little White Dove: The Charming Side of Alzheimer's, a memoir on the period from Mike's diagnosis to his death 10 years later.  2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27. Joyner-Green Valley Library, 601 N. La Cañada Drive.

Roger Hinterhuer. Into true crime stories? Face it: We're all a little bit into true crime stories. Retired Milwaukee detective Hinterhuer's novel, Justice Delayed is Justice Denied, investigates the true story of a 14-year-old paperboy who picked up a package from the roof of a car and was killed when it instantly exploded. What followed was a 15-year series of investigations into a series of murders and a look into the complexities of our criminal justice system. 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 10.

Tucson Festival of Books

Considering the Old Pueblo's book festival is one of the largest in the entire country, we can't fit the entire lineup into the newspaper, but rest assured if you're a living being with an interest in anything at all, there's going to be something at this festival for you. With science galore, fun stuff for the kids, entire pavilions of indie authors organized by genre and a chance to meet Clifford the Big Red Dog, how could you miss it? See the full schedule at tucsonfestivalofbooks.org.

Florence Williams. She writes for the New York Times, the NYT Mag, Nat Geo, Slate, Mother Jones, High Country News and tons of other places. She's also written several books, including The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier and More Creative. And she'll be speaking on two panels: "Birds, Trees, Nature, and Us" at 11:30 a.m. and "Celebrating Being Outside" at 4 p.m., both on Saturday, March 10. She'll also present awards to winning teen essay writers about the importance of nature at the National Parks Writing Contest at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 11. All in the National Parks Experience.

Best Things, Small Packages. Hear from three experts in the art of the short story about what it takes to say everything you need to say beautifully and concisely. Kevin Canty moderates talks by Thomas Mira y Lopez, UA creative nonfiction Master of Fine Arts alum; Daniel Olives, author of nine books and editor of two anthologies; and the Weekly's own beloved Brian Smith, whose writing you're surely already a fan of. 4 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 10. Student Union Kachina.

Writing the Past—Best in Memoirs. Gary Vernon moderates this talk by Mary Karr and Amy Tan. Kara's book The Liar's Club won prizes for best first nonfiction from PEN and the Texas Institute for letters and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Awards. Her most recent book, The Art of Memoir, breaks down her process, and is chock-full of tips on how to develop your own. You probably read The Joy Luck Club in high school, and if you're lucky and smart, you've also read some of Tan's other New York Times best-sellers, including The Kitchen God's Wife and The Hundred Secret Senses. Most recently, Tan wrote Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir. 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 10. Modern Languages Room 250. Ticket required.

Mysteries, Mayhem and Monsters. Let's get spooky! And who better to get spooky with than Shannon Hale, the author behind Ever After High; Ridley Pearson, writer of the Kingdom Keepers and Lock and Key series; and R.L. Stine, who probably kept you up at night when you were a kid with at least one of the books in his Goosebumps series. 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March. 10. Education Kiva.

U.S. Poet Laureates. Billy Collins was poet laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003, and today is the author of 12 collections of poetry. Juan Felipe Herrera, U.S. Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017, has published more than a dozen poetry collections, as well as short stories and literature for kids and young adults. Have a conversation with them about their craft at this event, moderated by Beth Harrison. 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Student Union North Ballroom. Ticket required.

Writing Home. It's a conversation between two authors about how faith influences their work, their shared Kentucky roots and writing about home. And the two authors just happen to be Fenton Johnson, UA English professor and author of Everywhere Home: A Life in Essays; and bell hooks, the feminist writer superstar behind more than 30 books, including Ain't I a Woman? and Bone Black. Stephanie Troutman moderates. 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday, March 11. Social & Behavioral Sciences Tent.